MANILA, Philippines—A Chinese coast guard ship and an escorting vessel assaulted a Philippine coast guard ship and a military-run supply boat near a disputed shoal Sunday, according to Philippine authorities, raising worries of an armed war in the disputed South China Sea.
The Chinese communist regime's broad territorial claims in the South China Sea, notably over islands closer to the Philippine coast, have heightened tensions and drawn the United States, the Philippines' traditional treaty partner, into the battle.
The United States' ambassador to Manila, MaryKay Carlson, stated on the X social media platform that "the United States condemns the PRC's latest disruption of a legal Philippine resupply mission to Ayungin shoal, putting the lives of Filipino service members at risk."
She utilized the initials for China's formal name, the People's Republic of China, as well as the name for Second Thomas Shoal in the Philippines. She went on to say that Washington was working with its partners to safeguard Philippine sovereignty and to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific area.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller also maintained that the 1951 United States-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty included assaults on Philippine soldiers and vessels in the South China Sea.
The Chinese coast guard said the Philippine warships "trespassed" into Chinese seas "without authorization" despite numerous radio warnings, leading its ships to come to a halt. It blamed the collisions on the Philippine boats.
“The Philippine side’s behavior seriously violates the international rules on avoiding collisions at sea and threatens the navigation safety of our vessels,” the Chinese coast guard said in a statement posted on its website.
Chinese police stated they were intercepting Philippine ships carrying "illegal construction" supplies.
According to a Philippine government task force dealing with the South China Sea, the crashes happened when two Philippine supply boats were being escorted by two Philippine coast guard ships on their way to deliver food and other supplies to the military outpost that has been under Chinese siege.
The Chinese ships' conduct were described as "completely disregarding the United Nations Charter, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and international regulations aimed at preventing sea collisions."
As Philippine warships carry supplies to Filipino marines and sailors stationed on the disputed shoal, near-collisions have occurred on a regular basis. However, this is the first time Philippine officials have acknowledged being attacked by Chinese ships.
Chinese officials have previously dismissed assertions that Chinese warships enforcing the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) territorial claims were really paramilitary ships masquerading as fishing boats.
Despite Chinese attempts, one of the two boats was able to navigate and provide supplies to a small crew stationed on board a marooned battleship, the BRP Sierra Madre, according to the task force.
The South China Sea is one of the busiest trading waterways in the world. The conflicts involve China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei, and are seen as a flashpoint in the region's fragile fault line between the United States and China.
A Chinese coast guard ship used a water cannon to stop one of two Philippine supply boats from entering Second Thomas Shoal in early August. It infuriated President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., prompting the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila to call China's ambassador to express a strong protest.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry accused Washington of "threaten[ing] China" at the time by raising the prospect of activating the US-Philippine mutual defense pact.
The European Union's envoy in Manila, Luc Veron, stated that the events, "their repetition and intensification, are dangerous and very disturbing," and that the EU "joins the Philippines in its call for the full observance of international law in the South China Sea."
A 2016 arbitration decision established under the U.N. On historical grounds, the Convention on the Law of the Sea invalidated the CCP's claims to almost the entire South China Sea. The CCP refuses to engage in the requested arbitration, opposes the ruling, and continues to defy it.
